Peel’s public school board is keeping an eye on tentative labour agreements reached between other school boards and high school teachers.
Under the Labour Relations Act, high school teachers at the Peel District School Board will be in a legal position to strike Nov. 25. Board officials are preparing contingency plans to deal with teacher job sanctions expected to include refusals to fill in for absent colleagues.
Peel Board Chair Janet McDougald said the board is monitoring similar strike action currently being carried out at other board’s to see how the situation is managed and get an idea of the impact on operations.
The board also wants to take some notes on the tentative agreements reached this past weekend between five school boards and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) locals in York region, Upper Grand, Hamilton-Wentworth, Niagara and Thames Valley.
McDougald said Peel board officials would like to see the details of those deals to determine if the agreements can be used for a basis to form a collective agreement in Peel.
“We would like to see them to see if they are a good fit (for Peel),” she remarked.
In the meantime, the board has developed plans to deal with strike action if and when it occurs here in Peel. Should teachers refuse to cover supervision duties for colleagues who are sick or absent from school, McDougald said, the board would try to provide alternate supervision for students. However, if staff cannot be found to cover those duties, the board would consider closing schools instead of leaving students unsupervised.
“The board is committed to ensuring students’ safety and will continue to do that and if indeed we find that the situation is unmanageable, then we have options that we have to consider, such as closing schools,” said McDougald.
The intent is to keep schools open, she emphasized, but only as long as student safety is ensured. In the event of a strike, letters will be sent home to update parents on the board’s plans.
Information can also be found on the board website at www.peelschools.org/aboutus/labour.
Labour unrest in Ontario’s schools was triggered by the Liberal government’s Bill 115, Putting Students First Act, which requires teachers’ unions and school boards to negotiate new contracts that include two-year wage freezes, pay cuts and benefit reductions.
The legislation also bans strikes, but teachers’ unions regard it as unconstitutional and are following the bargaining process outlined in the Labour Relations Act, which gives teachers the right to strike.